All you need is a freezer and a love of the Lake District to help guarantee the success of a new local meat scheme being launched next Monday.

Such is the provenance of the product that it doesn't even require a fancy brand name the breed is the brand!

Lakeland Herdwick Direct offers half or whole lambs and shearlings cut ready for the freezer in boxes delivered by mail order. The aim is to link Herdwick producers with consumers who want to help maintain the Lake District landscape and its cultural heritage.

Developed by the Herdwick Sheep Breeders' Association in association with the Friends of the Lake District, the National Trust, and the Lake District National Park Sustainable Development Fund, the scheme has also been given financial assistance by local food champion the Cumbria Fells and Dales LEADER + Programme.

The scheme has been developed to help reduce stocking to sustainable grazing levels without destroying the hefting system, says Veronica Waller of LEADER+.

"We also want to ensure that hill farmers get sufficient income," she added.

This is particularly important because of changes to the Common Agricultural Policy.

"Without additional income to hill sheep producers, farms could be abandoned and the transfer of traditional skills and knowledge within the hill farming community might be lost," explained Veronica. "There is a need to generate additional income on fell farms and maintain community-led, sustainable grazing activity especially on common land."

Lambs and shearlings (older lamb over 15 months of age) for Lakeland Herdwick Direct will be sourced from a group of farmers who are all members of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders' Association and who are all in environmental schemes. The price they'll get has been set at a premium above what they could expect to receive from traditional marketing outlets.

It's certainly a price worth paying in terms of taste.

Herdwick lamb and particularly shearling is prized for its distinctive taste which is attributed to the maturity of the animals. That's because lamb ready for eating is typically ten to 12 months of age compared with six months for lowland lamb. The more pronounced flavour comes from this maturity and from grazing the wild herbage of the open fells.

So, if you want a taste of what the Queen enjoyed at her 1953 Coronation Dinner, then all it takes is a quick phone call to place an order, or you can email your request.

Local butchers, H.C. Airey's & Sons, at Ayside, are acting as the contact point. Phone 015395-31240 or e mail: herdwick@ktdinternet.com